Swiss cantons weigh lower social assistance for Ukrainian refugees

Cantons should be allowed to cut funding for refugees from Ukraine Keystone-SDA

Next year, 46,000 Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland will be eligible to receive social assistance for the first time. The federal government now wants to allow the cantons to decide for themselves on the level of these payments. Local authorities consider the change to be fair, while aid organisations warn of the social consequences.

If Asylum Ordinance 2 were not amended, people with protection status S  – a special temporary protection status in Switzerland designed for people fleeing war – primarily Ukrainian refugees – would receive the same social assistance as Swiss nationals. This would mean a higher rate than the current social assistance for asylum seekers, explained Mathias Reynard, President of the Conference of Cantonal Social Directors (SODK), in response to a query from the Keystone-SDA news agency.

This would entail a significant increase in costs for the cantons, not least because, as part of Relief Package 27, the federal government’s lump-sum payment to the cantons for people with S status has been abolished where such status is linked to a residence permit valid for five years or more, the canton Valais member of the cantonal government went on to write.

The cantons had called on the federal government to allow them to determine the level of contributions themselves. This request had been incorporated into the consultation draft, Reynard stated. This would enable the cantons to pay lower contributions to those affected in future, right down to the level of asylum social assistance.

The municipalities welcomed the amendment to the Asylum Ordinance, but also want a say in the matter. After all, they would bear the main financial burden, according to the Swiss Association of Municipalities.

Those who pay less will make up the shortfall

The Social Democratic party, the Greens and aid organisations such as Caritas, Heks and Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH) fear that the cut in social assistance will lead to poverty and legal inequality. Ultimately, they also reject the draft because it hinders integration and social participation.

+ Switzerland extends Ukraine S status until March 2028

They warned that the proposed amendment to the ordinance also carries the risk of legal action. Depending on the ruling, the cantons might have to make back payments for the full amount of social assistance. The Radical Liberal party also pointed out to the federal government that the compatibility with the Refugee Convention is currently unclear.

The party called for the legal situation to be reviewed and for the amendment to the ordinance to be adopted this autumn, so that the cantons would have sufficient time to amend their social assistance laws by March 1, 2027.

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party concerns are quite different. The party welcomes the fact that persons in need of protection with S status will no longer be entitled to the same level of social assistance as Swiss nationals.

However, they argue that there is still considerable untapped potential for savings in the asylum sector. The party is therefore calling for the bill to be tightened up.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.